You've Got a Friend
by Dustbowl Dance
Summary: In which Quinn realizes that maybe Rachel was right; maybe she needed Glee, after all.
1. Chapter 1

Ch 1

Quinn really hated Mondays.

Back when she was cheerio captain and queen of the social scene, she hated Mondays, too. It meant that the fun of the weekend, cheering and having girls' days with her friends, was over and she'd have to deal with the cretins that called themselves high schoolers for another five days before she got a break. Now, she hated Mondays for an entirely different reason. It meant being subjected to the whispers and glares of the other students who had watched her fall from grace with relish for eight hours every day for a whole week, in addition to struggling to pay attention in class when one of the most important people in her life was ignoring her.

Quinn really, _really_ hated Mondays.

She tried to get through the school day with as little fuss as possible: getting the right books for class at her locker and then going straight to homeroom, then going to class, then eating in the auditorium during lunch so no one would bother her, and then more class. She had perfected the routine and performed it with such efficiency that even Ms. Sylvester would be proud.

This Monday had started off like any of the other recent Mondays; Ms. Pillsbury had dropped her off at school around eight o'clock, which was when Ms. Pillsbury liked to get into her office (although Quinn had a sneaking suspicion that is was more likely that the guidance counselor felt compelled to be in school by eight on the dot – after moving in with her, Quinn had seen Ms. Pillsbury's immaculately clean apartment), and she had walked to her locker to get her books for her first few classes. Although Artie had told her that a lot of the jocks had backed off on slushie facials because she was pregnant, she really didn't want to risk having to deal with corn syrup staining her clothes. As a plus, she managed to avoid Jacob Ben-Israel. She had thought he was obnoxious before, and then during sectionals he went to a whole new level of geek.

The kids that passed by her locker early in the morning weren't the vicious ones; they tended to either be underclassmen or even lower in the high school hierarchical system than she was, so they left her alone, aside from the occasional sympathetic glance. She really didn't mind those, because that was the least of her worries.

What she _did _mind was Rachel Berry's eager face getting closer and closer to hers as the overly talkative brunette walked up to her locker.

"Good morning, Quinn!" Rachel exclaimed, holding out a plate of cookies. Even though Quinn kind of hated Rachel's guts right now, she knew a lot of her anger was really her own fault because of lying to Finn. And besides, the smell wafting from the cookies was _delicious_. Quinn was pretty sure she was salivating.

Quinn stood at her locker, waiting expectantly for whatever Rachel wanted to say. It was probably something along the lines of _Quinn, I know you're busy right now, well, with the… er… well, with the baby on the way, but I want you to know that you should stay dedicated to Glee, and I hope you'll still be at practice today_ or some other drivel of the sort.

What Rachel actually said was entirely different.

"I heard you need a place to stay for a while."

-

Rachel had made sure to leave the house early that morning because she knew from several days' worth of stalking and manipulation that Quinn liked to get to school early and avoid as much time in the hallways as possible. And if Rachel was going to do Quinn a favor (or really, grovel for forgiveness) then she should probably try to _not_ embarrass the blonde mother-to-be. So the night before, she had baked her famous cookies and had prepared a speech to persuade Quinn to let her help somehow.

Like, with notecards and everything.

Despite this, it was still incredibly hard to talk to Quinn when she had finally caught her at her locker.

How do you apologize for ruining a girl's life?

"I heard you need a place to stay for a while."

Rachel had no idea where that came from, to be perfectly honest. It was the truth, admittedly, but not what she had wanted to start off with. But then, it was much closer to the heart of her proposal, was it not?

Quinn said nothing, opting to arch a perfectly formed eyebrow instead.

Rachel couldn't help but notice the slight flush in her cheeks, though. She wondered if Quinn was uncomfortable discussing her living arrangements.

"I'm sorry. That was a little rude of me. I'm just new at being friends and – what I'm trying to say is – here. Take these cookies. They're for you."

-

Quinn might despise Rachel Berry, but those cookies looked _amazing_. And if she was perfectly honest with herself, the girl was trying, wasn't she? If the situation was reversed, Quinn would have been all up on Finn without a second thought as to the ex-girlfriend. Rachel at least deserved her attention.

"Thanks so much," she said, taking the tray of baked goods and placing it gingerly on the shelf in her locker. There was an awkward pause, as Quinn had no idea what to say and Rachel couldn't hide behind her cookie peace offering any longer. Quinn cleared her throat nervously, and Rachel dragged her gaze from the floor to her face. "You, um, wanted to talk to me?"

"Oh, yes! How rude of me to stare into space. Well, what I had wanted to let you know before is that in light of your current adversity – "

"Rachel, I'd appreciate it if you could talk like a normal high schooler for once. I don't always know what you're saying," Quinn interrupted, although lacking her usual bite.

Rachel reddened slightly, and then regained her composure. She paused, took out some index cards (and Quinn had to suppress a snicker or two, because really? _Note cards?_) and promptly threw them away.

"I can't use those anymore," she said by way of explanation.

Quinn laughed, though not unkindly, and Rachel smiled.

"What I wanted to tell you was that as a fellow member of Glee club, all of the members are willing to help you and support you with any decisions you continue to make from here on out, regarding your pregnancy or otherwise. We don't really judge here. Except for Kurt, but that's just on fashion sense and you pass his inspection, so really you have no problem. And you really have a beautiful voice and it would be a shame to see it go to waste." Quinn thought she had stopped, but Rachel had merely paused to catch her breath.

Rachel continued, but Quinn didn't hear a word the other girl said. At that moment, Finn walked down the hall by her locker, and Quinn felt her heart shatter into a million little pieces.

Despite the attraction she felt for Puck that had culminated in their making a baby, Quinn truly loved Finn, and living without him in her life was devastating.

It took all of her self-control not to reach out and grab his arm, to beg and plead for his forgiveness as she had tried so many times before, to make him see that he was the only boy she'd ever love. As she contemplated what the consequences of her actions, Finn happened to glance over at her, and they caught each other's gaze. What she saw filled her with shame.

Oh, there was anger and disgust in his eyes. There was no doubt about that. But she also saw deep sorrow, and even fear. And she knew it was all her fault.

Because, honestly, who gets drunk off _wine coolers_ on a _weeknight_? And since when did feeling fat make it okay to sleep with your boyfriend's best friend? In her selfish desire to feel wanted she had betrayed possibly the best person she'd ever known. And she could never take that back.

Rachel, surprisingly, broke her out of her thoughts, by briefly touching her arm. The brunette's face was as somber and heartbroken as hers was.

"I just want to let you know that even though I can't take back what I did, I wish with all my might that I could. I was completely selfish and I hurt you and Finn and Noah. I'm so, so sorry," she said, possibly on the verge of tears. Despite the frustration Quinn felt with her situation, she actually understood, and didn't totally hate Rachel.

"It's fine," she said, swallowing the lump in her throat and trying to smile through her tears. "I wouldn't have done any differently. And he deserved to know. I shouldn't have lied."

They stood in silence for a moment, thinking about what could have been.

"I just… I want you to know that if you ever need somewhere to stay for a while, I'm always available. I genuinely want to be friends with you, Quinn. I've seen you stand up for Glee and I know you can be a good person. And I have a guest bedroom that's practically pristine. And my dads would totally understand; they feel that they should never judge someone by life choices, and they've drilled that into me since I was old enough to understand what life choices were. So just… think about it, I guess. And I'll see you later, at Glee." Having reached the conclusion of her speech, Rachel backed away and started walking down the hallway and toward her first class.

"Hey," Quinn called out. Rachel turned around, surprised. "Thank you."

Something had changed, but to Quinn, it was welcome. She never thought Manhands would be the one to help her out, but she wasn't complaining. And if Quinn was honest with herself, she could use a friend right now.

They could both use a friend.

-

**a/n**: so this is my first Glee fic, as well as my first fic in quite a while, so i really hope everything was up to par. It's a little slow now, but the rest of the crew will show up soon.

and i'm not really sure why those cookies were such a focal point haha. Maybe cause Quinn's got those pregnancy hormones? haha

i would love it if you'd review! thanks for reading :)


	2. Chapter 2

After speaking with Quinn and maybe sort of kind of offering to help her with anything she might need during her pregnancy and onwards and not really getting her main point across, that she was really sorry about telling Finn, Rachel decided to let the matter rest until later on at Glee, when she would have Tina to help be emotional and Mercedes to get bossy without being rude, and Kurt to just be Kurt.

As she was contemplating what else she could do for her new almost-but-not-quite-friend, she found herself walking into someone. Usually, Rachel walked down the school hallways acutely aware of everything around her. After a month of slushie facials, she had learned to keep her eyes peeled for jocks in case she could avoid the slushies. She never could get away from having the beverage dumped on her, but she became better at navigating the school hallways.

Until today, apparently.

"Watch it, Berry," a familiar voice all but snarled. She looked up quickly. Noah was towering over her, with a fierce glare on her face that would have made a lesser girl shrink in terror.

Not Rachel. Poor posture led to premature arthritic problems, hurting her chances of longevity in her career.

That aside, however, she was inwardly cowering. This was, after all, the boy who made her high school life miserable. And the way he looked at her could only be described as murderous.

"Noah, I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm sorry," she said by way of explanation.

"Seems to me like you've been sorry for an awful lot lately," he spat out.

Rachel paused momentarily, stunned. She _knew_ what she did was selfish and wrong, alright? She'd been having nightmares and anxiety dreams for weeks now, in which the baby somehow grew up, tracked her down, and blamed her for everything wrong that had happened in her life. And there was one with a talking couch that Rachel vaguely remembered had Quinn as a crackwhore. Maybe tea, even decaf, wasn't such a good beverage to consume before sleeping.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'll have you know I'm trying to make things right. I know what I did was wrong, and I'm trying to help."

"Then why are you bothering Quinn? Are you trying to rub in her face how you're the one jumping Finn's bones now?"

That was _it_. "Noah Puckerman, if you would _kindly_ refrain from using such foul language, I would be more than happy to let you know I am not some sort of _scarlet_ woman that you think I am. I have been nothing more than a friend to Finn, and I would never take advantage of him in such a way. And Quinn is living with Ms. Pillsbury. The woman cleans her grapes with a baby wipe. She _needs _someone, and since you won't step up and bear responsibility, I want to help her."

The hallways were beginning to crowd with students beginning their day, and many of the teenagers had started to form a semi-circle around the two teens. Thankfully, Jacob Ben-Israel was not present, or Rachel had a feeling this would have ended up on his blog, no doubt with a picture that featured her breasts. Noah's face darkened. "You don't know the half of what you're talking about, Berry. So before you go around acting like some sort of _saint_, remember that you caused this."

Rachel's lip trembled, but she stayed resolute. "No, Noah. You and Quinn caused this." With her parting words, she stormed off down the hall to her first period class. The students began whispering amongst themselves and Noah punched a locker before leaning into it and placing his head in his hands.

--

Rachel was _seething_. While she understood the pain Noah and Quinn were suffering, she was trying to help! And Noah had no clue what was going on in her life. The babygate incident had only further driven her and her other glee club members apart; their bonding during sectionals was only momentary and their hatred of her resumed once they got back to school that Monday. Quinn's life was torn apart because of her, and Finn wouldn't even look her in the eye. He hated her for bringing the bad news as much as he hated Noah and Quinn for having caused it. School was beginning to be a struggle for her as her courseload was more rigorous than ever, and to top it all off they would have to compete against vocal adrenaline in regionals.

Sometimes Rachel thought she might swoon (if she had someone handsome to catch her).

She had hoped, deep down, to atone for her sins by offering Quinn her services. Since the blonde had refused to take her up on her offer of assault, Rachel had needed another way to make up for her mistakes. And Quinn had seemed so miserable and lonely for the past few weeks that it had pulled at Rachel's heartstrings to do something, anything, for her.

She knew it would be difficult to persuade the former cheerio to accept her help; after all, she wouldn't even let the father of her child help her. But this morning, they were able to have a civil conversation – although Rachel was sure the cookies were a major part of it; she'd seen the way Quinn salivated over the pink icing – and Quinn had seemed soft, weary, even. And Rachel had wanted to reach out, and take her under wing and tell her that she was better than the others, that she was special, the way her fathers used to when she was teased in middle school.

She had thought that maybe things were starting to look up until Noah had pointed out that things wouldn't likely resolve themselves soon. She passed through the next few hours in a haze, hoping her schoolwork would be sufficient distraction.

--

Puck was one of the last people on earth that Quinn wanted to see nowadays. She knew he was trying; trying to be a good guy, trying to be a good student, and trying to be a good father. But Puck wanted to live happily ever after, and Quinn couldn't do that. Not with him. She couldn't deny that they had had chemistry; the unborn child she was carrying was proof enough. But what they had in chemistry they lacked in everything else. She needed someone like Finn, who would wait and wait for her even if it killed him. But still, Puck insisted that he wanted to be wit her and make a family, not understanding that it couldn't happen. In the long run, it would probably be one of the worse options she had considered.

"Quinn," he called out to her as she was walking to the cafeteria for lunch. "Wait up."

Inwardly cringing, she turned and watched him approach her.

"I need to talk to you. Now."

"Oh, I'm doing well, thanks, and you?" Quinn replied with a roll of her eyes. "What do you want?" she said, more seriously.

"I heard Berry ambushed you this morning."

"She was offering _help_, Puck. And it's not like I couldn't use it."

"If you needed help, you didn't need freaking Rachel Berry to give it to you," he commented as they walked into the lunchroom. "You could have just gone to me; you know I'm trying." She didn't look right at him, but she had a feeling that if she looked him in his eyes they'd be filled with hurt and disappointment."

"Puck, I know you probably don't get this, but girls deal with issues differently than guys. Even if she couldn't actually support me, she reminded me that it might be nice to have girl friends to talk to about what's going on."

"You can talk to me. I'm part of this too, remember?" he asked, a little confused.

"You can barely handle getting me ice cream when I need it. Do you really think you want to hear all about my emotions every second of the day?" Seeing the realization dawn on his face, she added, "didn't think so. It's nothing personal."

"But why _Rachel freaking Berry_?" The look on his face was incredulous. She kind of thought this was the emotion she had ever seen on his face at one time.

"Because she's the only one who's tried to talk to me. Plus, she made me cookies."

Puck scoffed. "Whatever. I've gotta go. But we're cool on this?"

"There was never an argument."

--

"So, what did Baby Mama say when you pounced this morning?" Kurt asked Rachel as she walked into glee that afternoon. Mercedes slapped his arm at the term "baby mama."

"Kurt, I promise you I didn't pounce or coerce her into anything. I merely gave her the option of letting us help, and to be perfectly honest she looked kind of happy about it."

"Why wouldn't she?" Tina asked. "I'm sure she thought we all still hated her. I'm just surprised she didn't attack you, being hormonal and all."

"Well, I prepared in case of the chance of hostility with some of my famous cookies, which I must say proved to go over quite well." As Rachel explained the morning's events, the rest of the Glee members filed into the chorus room and gradually the other members learned what had happened.

"It kills me to admit this, but I'm glad you said something. Maybe she won't look too depressed anymore. And you _know _all that negative energy's got to be bad for the baby," Kurt said, pretty much summing up the sentiments of the people there.

"I only hope she'll take my words to heart. I guess we won't know until she shows up." A few seconds after Rachel spoke, Quinn walked quietly into the room. Rachel took the small smile from Quinn as a sign that things could improve.

--

**A/N: Ah! I'm sorry that it took me so long to update. Hopefully I'll be able to update faster in the future. ****Anyways, thanks to all that reviewed last chapter! If I didn't personally reply, please let me know! I try to reply to every review I receive.**

**Also, in case any of you lovely readers were wondering, this isn't going to be a puck/quinn romance. Sorry if that disappoints anyone. And I'm not sure why those cookies are such a big deal haha.**


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